Self-presentation
Also known as: Impression management
The strategic shaping of the impression others form of us.
What it means
Self-presentation, or impression management, is the process by which people attempt to control the impressions others form of them, selectively conveying information about themselves to create a desired image. It can be deliberate or automatic, and serves goals such as gaining approval, projecting competence or status, and constructing a public identity consistent with one's self-concept. Strategies range from ingratiation and self-promotion to intimidation and exemplification, and individuals differ in how much they engage in it (see self-monitoring). Self-presentational concerns drive socially desirable responding, which biases surveys and self-reports, and shape risky behaviors performed 'for an audience.' It matters for behavioral science because so much behavior is staged for observers, distorting measurement and influencing decisions whenever others are watching.
Examples
Knowing colleagues are watching, an employee volunteers for a visible task to project commitment they might not show in private.
Ordering aloud at a table, a diner picks the salad; ordering alone on a screen, he picks the burger. The virtuous choice was partly staged for the audience.
In surveys, more people say they voted than turnout records can account for. A questionnaire is an audience too, and the answers are dressed for it.
First described in Erving Goffman (1959); Jones & Pittman (1982).